Welcome to my website and thanks for stopping by!
I am postdoctoral researcher at Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen on the research project Origins of Descriptive Representation ODER. The project is funded by the Carlsberg Foundation and led by Frederik Hjorth. In the project, we use computer vision to digitize all candidacies and candidate-level election results throughout Denmark’s democratic history. We use this comprehensive data to study how political candidates’ socioeconomic backgrounds have evolved over time and the implications for political representation and public policy.
I received my PhD degree in December 2023 from Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen. My dissertation examined political careers and political representation and can be read and downloaded here. My PhD supervisors was Lene Holm Pedersen (primary) and Jens Olav Dahlgaard (secondary). During my PhD, I have been visiting researcher at Copenhagen Business School and Harvard University.
My research interests relate to the composition and dynamics of the political class, and how political systems intentionally and unintentionally shape who we get as officeholders and how they behave. I use quantitative and computational methods, and I draw inferences by deploying various forms of quasi-experiments and traditional experiments. You can find my CV here and see my research below.
Please reach out to me at fkl [at] ifs.ku.dk if you want to get in touch.
Published and accepted work
Government Ideology and Gender Equality in Public Sector Career Progression with Lasse Aaskoven and Benjamin Egerod. Conditionally accepted in Political Science Research & Methods.
What Happens When Women Win Elections? The Electoral Returns to Increased Representation of Women with Benjamin Egerod, Lene Holm Pedersen and Jens Olav Dahlgaard. 2026. Journal of Politics, 88(1), 413-418.
Reward or Punishment? The Distribution of Life-Cycle Returns to Political Office with Jens Olav Dahlgaard and Nicolai Kristensen. 2026. Political Science Research & Methods, 14(1), 168-176.
The Gendered Cost of Politics with Lene Holm Pedersen. 2025. British Journal of Political Science, 55:e59. Winner of the 2025 Municipal Politics Best Paper Award by the Danish Political Science Association.
No Gender Bias in Audience Perceptions of Male and Female Experts in the News: Equally Competent and Persuasive with Katrine Greve-Poulsen, Rasmus T. Pedersen & Erik Albæk. 2021. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 28 (1), 116-137. Open Access version, Code and replication data.
Work in progress
Women’s Impact through the Policy Process: Different Preferences and Agendas – Same Outcomes with Karl-Emil Svenningsen Bendtsen & Lene Holm Pedersen. Revise & resubmit in Electoral Studies.
Career Rewards for Part-time Politicians. Revise & resubmit in Legislative Studies Quarterly.
Do Worker MPs Represent Workers? Class Backgrounds and Policy Issues with Olivia Levinsen, Anna Lund & Frederik Hjorth.
The Asymmetry of Advancement: Women’s Career Stagnation under Male Managers in the Civil Service with Lasse Aaskoven, Josephine Arnfred & Benjamin Egerod.
Learning to Let Go? Women’s Representation under Candidate-centered Electoral Systems with Olivia Levinsen, Anna Lund & Frederik Hjorth.
When Access Backfires: The Representational Consequences of Reducing Politicians’ Costs of Commuting with Frederik Hjorth.
Longitudinal Linking of Candidacy Records with Frederik Hjorth
Work in Danish
Stabil Politisk Tillid Trods Minksag og Coronapandemi with Rune Stubager. English: Stable Political Trust Despite Mink Case and Corona Pandemic. Book chapter in Partiledernes Kamp Om Midten (ed. Kasper M. Hansen & Rune Stubager), a book examining the Danish Election 2022.